The cast of Marvel’s The Avengers were a spirited bunch Thursday in Beverly Hills, where the familial vibe amongst the likes of Robert Downey Jr., Samuel Jackson, Chris Hemsworth, Chris Evans, and Mark Ruffalo was evident and mutual admiration, inside jokes, and startling revelations abounded. (Scarlett Johansson, alas, was absent due to a scheduling conflict.) Among the highlights: Ruffalo’s youthful Hulk inspiration, Jeremy Renner’s suggestive Hawkeye imagery (“[I] played with Thor’s hammer while he stroked my bow”), and one mysterious, maybe-still legit admission from Downey that the assembled Avengers would be filming a scene… that night. But, pray tell: Which Avenger possesses the best Dance Dance Revolution skills? SPOILERS AHEAD.more »

Marvel and Disney have officially released a clip from The Avengers, with Scarlett Johansson kicking ass in a cocktail dress while bound to a chair. I would go on, but you've seen it all before: It is basically the same fight scene Jason Statham staged last year in Killer Elite, except with boobs. Click through to view both.more »

"Director Sacha Gervasi has tapped Scarlett Johansson and James D'Arcy to play Psycho stars Janet Leigh and Anthony Perkins in Fox Searchlight's Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho. Anthony Hopkins will play the iconic director, while Helen Mirren will play his wife, Alma. [...] Sources tell Variety that Making of Psycho has drawn comparisons to My Week With Marilyn, and that the role of Janet Leigh could lead to the same awards consideration for Johansson that the Marilyn Monroe role did for Michelle Williams." [Variety]

Marvel's The Avengers has the pressure of living up to years of hype resting on its shoulders, but a new trailer for the May 4 superhero pic looks promising, if not terribly complicated. Plot details, like what Loki's up to and why? Save it for the movie. This is the chance to give every one of the Avengers their close-up. Well, except for you, Hawkeye.more »

On the eve of a new trailer debut, Marvel has released a new poster for May's superhero superteam pic The Avengers. Here you'll find all your favorite heroes gathered in various states of action and repose: There's Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) stalking her prey while Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) contemplates a sandwich, with Captain America (Chris Evans) having a senior moment in the background as Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) hogs the spotlight. Typical. Get a full look at the cut & paste wonderment after the jump.more »

Actor and multimedia DIYer Joseph Gordon-Levitt is set to make his directorial debut opposite fellow newbie directorScarlett Johansson in an untitled comedy co-produced under his own hitRecord Films banner. The pic, shooting in April, also stars JGL as a Don Juan-type ladykiller seeking to reform his ways; the actor-director also wrote the script. So yes, it's time to face facts: That kid from Third Rock from the Sun is officially way, way more accomplished than you. [Deadline]

Since we've all watched The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo like good little people-who-are-trying-to-figure-out-why-the-hell-it's-is-such-a-phenomenon-because-even-my-parents-care-about-it-now, it's the perfect time to reflect on what would've happened if David Fincher ditched Rooney Mara and opted for another ingenue to play Lisbeth Salander. Carey Mulligan? Ellen Page? Anne Hathaway? If I had the MS Paint prowess, I'd whip up renderings of Barbara Stanwyck, Faye Dunaway, and 94-year-old Joan Fontaine in the nose studs and combat boots, but I'll leave that to your imagination. After the jump, check out a bunch of very accurate, wholly hypothetical Lisbeth portraits.

In this weekend’s wildly reckless financial risk fantasy We Bought a Zoo, moneyed-but-totes-normal Benjamin Mee (Matt Damon), a recently widowed father of two, experiences a fit of Jerry Maguire insanity and moves his family into a zoo. Director Cameron Crowe and co-written by Aline Brosh McKenna (27 Dresses) would have you think this is a good idea, since (spoiler!) Mee’s selfish, shortsighted, and borderline negligent decisions result in an uplifting, golden-hued ending, not to mention the love of a certain crunchy-but-smokin’ hot lady zookeeper. But Movieline knows better. Study the litany of ill-advised risks and bad judgment calls Benjamin Mee makes for himself and his two young children. In these trying times, let his story not be a lesson.

It's the week after Thanksgiving which means that it's time to start firing up some holiday playlists. Here to help is Scarlett Johansson, whose virtual duet with Dean Martin hit the Internet today. Is their posthumous rendering of "I'll Be Home For Christmas" creepy? A little. A necessary addition to the holiday track canon? Not at all. But random? Completely! In honor of this Christmas-time cut, let's review five of the other most random celebrity holiday recordings to confound the masses.

Scarlett Johansson first garnered major notice in The Horse Whisperer 13 years ago, which makes her 27th birthday today a momentous one -- she's essentially been famous (and garnering awards) for half her life. Let's celebrate the well-spoken thespian and Tom Waits cover artist by choosing her her best role. What's your pick?

Variety reports that Scarlett Johansson will soon join the ranks of actresses-turned-directors with Summer Crossing, Truman Capote's first novella, about a 17-year-old Manhattan socialite who breaks away from her family and has an affair with a working class parking lot attendant in the summer of 1945. The Avengers star had discussed her directorial debut previously this fall, but with backers and The Deer Hunter producer Barry Spikings it seems the project is actually happening. Yes, but will it measure up to Jen Aniston and Demi Moore's cancer dramas? Gauntlet dropped, ScarJo. [Variety]

PBS's American Masters series is shining their "Viewers Like You"-funded spotlight on Woody Allen, who is decidedly uninterested in being a part of Academy consideration this year. In the trailer for the star-studded doc, we field gushy soundbites from Diane Keaton, Sean Penn, Larry David, Scarlett Johansson, Mariel Hemingway, Mira Sorvino, and more. Oh, and Woody also shows up.

In addition to giving the Gaddafi assassination the ol' Taiwanese 'toon treatment, the good folks at Next Media Animation have processed the recent Avengers trailer through their kooky CG filters. The result? One and a half minutes of hilarious superhero (and gyrating ScarJo) action that imagines the titular crime fighters are called to assemble to battle the evil, cell phone-hacking, nude pic-distributing Loki. There's no way the actual movie will be this entertaining. Stick around for more Buzz Break!

This pat in the back just in from Marvel Studios: The first trailer for The Avengers was "downloaded over 10 million times in its first 24 hours" from iTunes alone upon its debut this week. 10 million downloads. In a day. That's got to also be the record for the most people listening to Nine Inch Nails (whose musical stylings played under shots of ScarJo pondering the tightness of her Black Widow costume, etc.) at the same time. Congrats! Now, to convert those 10 million trailer-watchers into opening day ticket-buyers... [Press release]

You know which underrated actor I love? Michael Biehn. You know which other underrated actor I love? Milo Ventimiglia. (Gilmore Girls forever!) So the tense, bloody trailer for Xavier Gens' apocalyptic horror pic The Divide pretty much had me at the get go, even before Biehn and Ventimiglia faced off for control of a roomful of survivors bunkered down in a basement after the world outside apparently succumbed to Sarah Connor's nightmare nuclear blast from Terminator 2. Watch the trailer and get more midday treats in today's Buzz Break.